Sway
by lookingforthestars
Summary: Another wedding. Another dance. Another chance to make things right.


**There's still a good chance I'll be continuing "Failure" at some point, but I really needed to write something short and resolution-y, or I might explode. Thanks for the reviews thus far, I haven't given up hope on the show and probably won't until someone comes to my house to personally deliver the news.**

Another wedding. Another dance. Another moment with the love of his life in his arms, swaying slowly with him to music he didn't recognize. There were only inches between them, but she might as well have been on another continent. The rift seemed irreparably deep and to think otherwise, even for a second, was a recipe for disappointment.

Everyone was surprised when Cabe and Allie announced their engagement. The agent had been hit hard by recent events—harder than he let on—and Walter understood his need to hold onto something tangible. Something right.

He'd been more shocked when the rest of the team agreed to celebrate with them. Walter supposed that after the initial anger had passed, once the competition between their companies lost its edge, once he'd wished Team Centipede good luck and shifted Scorpion's focus to avoid butting heads with them, things faded back into normality. They were still apart, still unsure of where they stood, but they were family. That didn't change just because they disagreed.

 _You got me out of a bad place,_ Toby said the last time they saw each other. _Hap too. We haven't forgotten that, you know._

Ralph had conveniently manipulated circumstances to make it awkward for him _not_ to ask Paige to dance, so here they were. The last time they'd done this, at Happy and Toby's wedding, he didn't know what it felt like to have her warm skin under his fingers. Her lips against his. Her arms around him, whispering in his ear while they made love because she knew what her voice did to him. Now that he had experienced all those things, holding her like this was torture. He never should have asked. He never should have come.

Paige flexed her fingers against his shoulder, clearing her throat before she spoke for the first time since they'd started. "Cabe told me about the grant," she said tentatively. "I'm glad…I'm glad that things are good for you, Walter."

He hadn't known what good felt like in months. Maybe not since the night of the game against Homeland. But he didn't see what good countering her assumption would do. "Thank you. I heard you've taken on new employees. Centipede must be, uh, doing well too."

Paige nodded. She was surely aware that he knew exactly how her company was performing. He couldn't stop himself from keeping tabs if he wanted to. "Everything is great."

Her claim sounded hollow. She'd told him once that her success meant less if she wasn't sharing it with him, but he couldn't imagine she felt that way now. Not when she had been the one to leave.

"Good," he responded, for really no other reason than to fill the silence until the song was over and he could make a graceful exit. "I guess…we ended up where we were supposed to be."

"Yeah." Paige blew out a breath, not looking directly at him. "I think it all worked out for the best. W-With the company. With us."

Walter's heart plummeted. Losing her was far from the best outcome. It was the one thing he'd feared more than risking his own life. And when it came to fruition, it was every bit as painful as he had expected it to be.

But honesty hadn't fixed the situation. His attempts were too little, too late.

So he lied. "Yes," he mumbled, tension settling in his jaw. "Not sharing interests was…difficult. We were never able to connect that way."

"Exactly. A-And we couldn't communicate. Everything was so hard for us to discuss."

Her voice sounded odd to him, but Walter chalked it up to his imagination. Nothing she was saying was particularly untrue. "My…EQ deficiencies caused a lot of problems."

"So did my jealousy," she admitted, offering him a small, embarrassed smile. "We just weren't a good match."

Walter nodded. Another white lie to spare her feelings. Maybe that was the wrong choice. But it felt like the only one he could manage. "We hurt each other too much."

The song was ending. He only noticed because Ralph and Patty moved apart, giving each other a high five. Paige seemed to reach the same conclusion as she released his hand and stepped out of his grasp, smoothing down her navy dress. "Good. I'm glad we see things the same way. I think…that will make it easier to move on. Right?"

"Right," he said, stretching his hand by his side to avoid reaching out for her again. "Right."

She looked up at him, her eyes a fraction brighter than usual. But it didn't mean anything. It was an emotional conversation. The end of something significant. If she'd ever had feelings for him at all, this would leave a mark, no matter how small. "It was really good to see you, Walter."

"S-Same," he managed, not trusting himself to say much more. "I'm going to, um…" He pointed to the kitchen. Surely he could keep himself busy cleaning up for the rest of the night.

Paige pressed her lips together. "Yeah. Okay."

* * *

If Paige attempted to say goodbye, Walter had been successful in dodging her. By the time he emerged from the back, everyone was gone and Cabe was helping Allie into their SUV. He'd negotiated two weeks off, with an exception for major disasters.

Unable to face returning to an empty garage, the genius settled for driving around aimlessly on the highway. The silence and fresh air helped clear his mind, but he didn't have any cash on him to fill up his nearly depleted tank, so he admitted defeat and pulled onto the familiar if bumpy streets, reluctantly dragging himself out of his seat.

"I thought you were never coming back."

Walter jumped, every nerve in his body on edge. Once he'd processed Paige's voice, if not the reason for her presence, he relaxed, locking the car behind him. She was leaning against the garage door, changed into jeans and a loose top. "Why didn't you go inside?"

"You changed the codes."

"Oh." That had been one of his more petty endeavors. "Is Ralph okay?"

"Yeah, he's fine. Sly has him." Her eyes followed Walter as he circled around his car and stopped a few feet short of her, unsure if he should invite her in or if that would seem presumptuous. Without knowing why she was there, he had even less clue than usual how to approach the situation. "Walter, I need to ask you something."

He swallowed, the line of thought wiped from his mind. "Okay."

"What you said…at the wedding…" Paige looked down, briefly, curling her arms tight around herself. "How much of that was true?"

"Most of it." He wasn't lying about everything. Their problems were real. It was illogical to pretend otherwise.

"Fair enough," she said with a tiny shrug. "Most of what I said was true, too."

Walter didn't answer. He didn't know how he was supposed to answer. She seemed to be reiterating what they'd already discussed not even three hours earlier, so unless she was just looking to rub it into his face…

"I don't care," she said suddenly, pinning her lip between her teeth and meeting his startled gaze head on. "About any of it. Everything we said was true. We have all those issues and more, but I would accept all of that over what we're doing right now. This isn't for the best. I hate this."

Walter stared at her, his IQ temporarily reduced to rubble by her confession. He needed the correct response or it could all crumble again. She could slip through his fingers like she was never even there.

The words weren't coming. He kissed her.

Paige crushed her lips to his, her arms coming around his neck as his body pinned hers against the door. He was struggling to process her touch, after several months without it, but that didn't stop him from seeking it out, frustrated at his inability to get her as close as he wanted her. Her fingers tangled in his hair, a quiet moan escaping her throat.

"Come inside," he panted when he tore himself away, his breath coming in insubstantial gasps. "Please come inside."

She smiled, brushing his temple lightly with her thumb. "If you insist."


End file.
